Best Detector or Coil for Depth...??

[Jarl]

Hello TN friends. I am really thinking that I need to go deeper more often. I know some people locally that have high end detectors and their results are more than obvious...especially considering that I hunt in the same places they do and come away with nothing like they do...ever...or once in a blue moon.

So, that brings me to inquire what detector I should consider or even getting a better coil for my existing detectors, which on a medium scale have all pulled up some decent things, I am not completely giving up on them, they are fine machines, but if I can enhance them by getting the right coil or as I said before, consider a different detector that is known for clean depth reception, I am all ears.

Don't be afraid to tell me the price range of some of these either...if depth is what I need and I have to pay a little more to have a machine that can do it, then maybe that is what I need to do. Otherwise, even ONCE in awhile, I might like to find something that everyone else seems to find...seemingly often at that.

Anyway, I appreciate any advice in advance! Thanks all!


Last note, i am not saying what detectors these 'locals' use with great success, because I think for me to really decide well, I want to be vague about it so the responses might seem more honest or less biased by what I say. I hope you understand.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Last note, i am not saying what detectors these 'locals' use with great success, because I think for me to really decide well, I want to be vague about it so the responses might seem more honest or less biased by what I say. I hope you understand.

Ha! I was going to say "what machine are those guys using who are spanking you? And simply get what they have!" But you beat me to the punch haha.

Judging from the list of machines you list in your bio. column (a variety of Garretts), I would say to get an Explorer II (or any of the evolutions of Explorers, for that matter). But be prepared for a learning curve of fluty sounds, that might drive you bonkers at first.

I knew some guys travelling through Iowa, sampling various parks and courthouse lawns as they travelled through various cities there. They are very accomplished skilled explorer turf users. They were simply amazed at the good parks they encountered, with easy-pickens silver. In one particular park, which was so good (15 or so silver for each of them), they stayed the night there JUST to have another day to hunt it And they noticed a trend, that there wasn't much roosies or '40s/50s wheaties. The silver and old coins tended to be '30s and earlier stuff. The ran into a local there, swinging a "brand x" machine, and .... began to surmise that the locals had done a good job at the top 6 or 7", but were failing to get the deeper stuff.

 

[treasurehound]

I really don't know if there is a "best" detector for depth. Experience with your machine is a big factor. Most of the higher end machines are going to get pretty close to the same depth if used properly. Now coils is a different story. Sure you are going to get a little deeper with certain coils. I much prefer the SEF coils but that is my opinion. Also most people swing way too fast to even hear the deeper targets. Again that is part of experience.

 

[chiefdanaho]

hello jarl,
my game completely changed my silver coin finds when i went to the e-trac..my silver coin numbers by the year went from finding around 10-15 a year to now around 100 a year..
My jewery/ring numbers HAVE NOT CHANGED, i average around 10 rings a year with maybe 2 to 3 gold and the rest silver.. so i guess it depends on what your mainly looking for..

i also have a tesoro vaquero and a whites..

i would personaly put far more importance on location 1st however, there has got to be fish in the pond to have a chance at catching any...

chiefdanaho

 

[Jarl]

Thank you very much Tom_in_CA, treasurehound and cheifdonaho for your input. I am going to wait yet a little longer to see if anyone else chimes in on this post.

 

[Jarl]

correction: 'chiefdanaho' not 'chiefdonaho' my mistake. :P Welcome to TN too...this site is full of knowledge and decent people!

 

[ringfinder]

Wow, what a question! If you are really serious about depth and where you are detecting isn't very trashy, I suggest a Minelab GPX 4800 or 5000! I run a minelab GPX 4500 and I can tell you, you need a BIGGER shovel for this detector!

I relic hunt a lot in Virginia and in a field this detector Kicks Butt! I have dug .40 caliper bullets out of the ground at 22 inches!! Here in Ohio I dug a War of 1880 button out of the ground at 14 inches!!

Just to give you an example, two of my friends, one using a Garrett Infinium and the other using a Whites TDI asked to hear a signal I got on my GPX 4500, I said sure.
Now we were hunting a Civil War winter camp site, I got a pretty loud signal and called my buddy over with his Infinium, he said he couldn't hear anything, my other buddy came over with his Whites TDI and said if I hadn't showed him the spot of the signal, he would never have heard it, he barely got a signal. He dug down 14 inches and out popped a .58 caliper bullet!

I also have a explorer II and it is good for depth, but it will never match the GPX! But in a trashy area the Explorer works great.

I also like my Minelab X-terra 70, the new ones are called Minelab X-terra 705 . Great detector and light weight.

Price for the Minelab GPX 4800, around $4,800 , but if you look around you can find one cheaper! I forgot to tell, the GPX detector is a great Gold nugget detector also!
I just saw a 4500 on eBay for $3800 and it includes lots of extras, including 2 coils!

Minelab X- terra around $729.00 on eBay , Explorer II around $500-$600 on eBay

HH! Ringfinder

 

[Frankn]

When you said VAGUE, you weren't kidding. You are getting all these answers and no one really knows what you are looking for . You just say a deep detector, not how deep. You need to present facts to get proper answers. Here's an example of what I mean. You say you want depth. OK The SSP2100 at $3495 with a 3' blanket coil at $1500 will go about 30'. If that is not deep enough for you, the 3D Pinpointer pro at $5500 ( it's on sale) is listed as going down to 120'. See what I mean! Take a big shovel. Frank...

Yes, that's whale barf.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Wow, what a question! If you are really serious about depth and where you are detecting isn't very trashy, I suggest a Minelab GPX 4800 or 5000! I run a minelab GPX 4500 and I can tell you, you need a BIGGER shovel for this detector!

I relic hunt a lot in Virginia and in a field this detector Kicks Butt! I have dug .40 caliper bullets out of the ground at 22 inches!! Here in Ohio I dug a War of 1880 button out of the ground at 14 inches!!

Just to give you an example, two of my friends, one using a Garrett Infinium and the other using a Whites TDI asked to hear a signal I got on my GPX 4500, I said sure.
Now we were hunting a Civil War winter camp site, I got a pretty loud signal and called my buddy over with his Infinium, he said he couldn't hear anything, my other buddy came over with his Whites TDI and said if I hadn't showed him the spot of the signal, he would never have heard it, he barely got a signal. He dug down 14 inches and out popped a .58 caliper bullet!

I also have a explorer II and it is good for depth, but it will never match the GPX! But in a trashy area the Explorer works great.

I also like my Minelab X-terra 70, the new ones are called Minelab X-terra 705 . Great detector and light weight.

Price for the Minelab GPX 4800, around $4,800 , but if you look around you can find one cheaper! I forgot to tell, the GPX detector is a great Gold nugget detector also!
I just saw a 4500 on eBay for $3800 and it includes lots of extras, including 2 coils!

Minelab X- terra around $729.00 on eBay , Explorer II around $500-$600 on eBay

HH! Ringfinder

ring-finder, TELL ME you're not serious? Suggesting that someone coin hunt in they typical coin-hunt environment with a minelab nugget machine? Oh sure, he can get coins to 1.5 ft. deep! But sheeessssk, who wants to hear every single staple, birdshot, pinhead, etc... that sounds off like the bells-of-notre dame? A minelab nugget machine might be used for coins on something like the beach, or the middle of the sahara desert, but no, I would never suggest someone try to use one of those for the typical coin/relic sites. I can't imagine how anyone could do that.

A buddy and I took one of those to a certain park which had been cleaned out down to about 10 or 11" with standard explorers. It had produced thousands of silver coins over the years, but in this one zone, the deepest anyone could get, was down to the turn-of-century losses. Thus since the park dated to the 1870s, it "stood to reason" that there were deeper coins there, out of reach of our standard coin machines. So we tried a minelab nugget machine. I was simply AMAZED at the cavalcade of signals everywhere. I mean, I bet we could have dug all day, and never progressed out of a 5 ft. square. We'd have been better off just to cut out with flat shovels down to 10" (like .... roll back the turf so-to-speak), and pull out our regular machines to try down in the depression

 

[Frankn]

Wow, what a question! If you are really serious about depth and where you are detecting isn't very trashy, I suggest a Minelab GPX 4800 or 5000! I run a minelab GPX 4500 and I can tell you, you need a BIGGER shovel for this detector!

I relic hunt a lot in Virginia and in a field this detector Kicks Butt! I have dug .40 caliper bullets out of the ground at 22 inches!! Here in Ohio I dug a War of 1880 button out of the ground at 14 inches!!

Just to give you an example, two of my friends, one using a Garrett Infinium and the other using a Whites TDI asked to hear a signal I got on my GPX 4500, I said sure.
Now we were hunting a Civil War winter camp site, I got a pretty loud signal and called my buddy over with his Infinium, he said he couldn't hear anything, my other buddy came over with his Whites TDI and said if I hadn't showed him the spot of the signal, he would never have heard it, he barely got a signal. He dug down 14 inches and out popped a .58 caliper bullet!

I also have a explorer II and it is good for depth, but it will never match the GPX! But in a trashy area the Explorer works great.

I also like my Minelab X-terra 70, the new ones are called Minelab X-terra 705 . Great detector and light weight.

Price for the Minelab GPX 4800, around $4,800 , but if you look around you can find one cheaper! I forgot to tell, the GPX detector is a great Gold nugget detector also!
I just saw a 4500 on eBay for $3800 and it includes lots of extras, including 2 coils!

Minelab X- terra around $729.00 on eBay , Explorer II around $500-$600 on eBay

HH! Ringfinder

Now you have my curiosity up. How does a .40 bullet get down 22" ? I have dug coffee cans of bullets and balls at Antietam and never gone more than 6 to 8". Frank...

 

[treasurehound]

Now you have my curiosity up. How does a .40 bullet get down 22" ? I have dug coffee cans of bullets and balls at Antietam and never gone more than 6 to 8". Frank...

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Last year at DIV I was in a field digging bullets with my TDI. I have hunted it before with my MXT PRO and got a lot at about the 6" to 8" range. But with the TDI I was digging bullets 18" deep. I have never hunted a park with the TDI because I am sure it will detect a lot of trash as they are very sensitive. The original post did not state what he was hunting for but was just asking about deep machines. The GPX and the TDI fit in that category. For coin hunting I think the Etrac, CTX 3030, V3i, Explorer, Tesoro will be better choices for that. But for relic hunting then the GPX and TDI are the best choice for deep detection.

 

[Frankn]

Last year at DIV I was in a field digging bullets with my TDI. I have hunted it before with my MXT PRO and got a lot at about the 6" to 8" range. But with the TDI I was digging bullets 18" deep. I have never hunted a park with the TDI because I am sure it will detect a lot of trash as they are very sensitive. The original post did not state what he was hunting for but was just asking about deep machines. The GPX and the TDI fit in that category. For coin hunting I think the Etrac, CTX 3030, V3i, Explorer, Tesoro will be better choices for that. But for relic hunting then the GPX and TDI are the best choice for deep detection.

How does a bullet go 22" or even 18" down in the ground? First off they are hitting at a sharp angle to start. That depth in most areas would be over 200 years of time. I have a rifle range and have recovered bullets from large rounds like .44 mag at about 4" and high velocity rounds from .22/250 at no deeper than 6''. I really can't picture a bullet going that deep with the possible exception of a filled trench. Frank...